A couple of weeks ago, I had the
good fortune to spend some time with
local artists Charlotte and Erik Strm
at their home studio near downtown
Greensboro. We talked at length
about their latest exhibit, From the
Ground Up, on display at the Studio
& Gallery on Cedar Street this month.
Eventually, the conversation turned
to how the artistic husband and wife
duo are surviving the
Great Recession.
Erik and Charlotte
said they used to rent a space at Lyndon
Street Artworks, but they recently relocated
their studio to their home near downtown
Greensboro as a cost-saving measure.
“This year and last year started to get a lot better,” Erik said. “Luckily because we do so many types of art — it’s not just fine art. We do illustration and we do a lot of graphic design.”
Charlotte and Erik also illustrate children’s books and are currently delving into the world of comic books. In addition, Charlotte is a talented graphic designer and her freelance assignments help pay the household bills. In the current economy, it’s actually an advantage to work freelance. “It’s good to have more than one ability even if it falls under the same umbrella of art,” Erik said. “Because there are certain artists that only do a certain type of art but we tend to do a little of everything.” Charlotte and Erik Strom work incredibly hard and sometimes struggle to do the thing they love — draw and paint. I was touched by their genuine kindness and generosity. We said our goodbyes, and I headed out into the cold of a late October afternoon.
A few hours later, I was searching for my seat at the Stevens Center prior to the start of Piedmont Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The lavish production thrilled audiences and revealed just how blessed we all are to be part of such a rich and diverse arts community. In some ways, it was striking to the witness the contrast between Charlotte and Erik working diligently in their modest home and an opera that could rival a production at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
As I watched the timeless tale of the world’s greatest lover, I thought about the growth of the local arts community and how it could be the answer to our current economic woes. According to the Arts Council of Winston- Salem & Forsyth County website, the local arts industry generates more than $100 million annually, employing more than 3,800 people in Forsyth County alone. The arts industry generates $10 million in local and state government revenue and contributes $56 million in annual spending to Forsyth County’s economy. Winston-Salem’s hotels, retail shops and restaurants earn $48 million from arts patrons.
And the 25 percent film production tax credit that went into effect in January has generated tons of activity in the state’s film industry. A couple of weeks ago, word leaked out that Iron Man 3 is coming to Wilmington. The Facebook page of a Wilmington casting service has announced that the production, slated to begin filming in May 2012, will require more than 1,000 extras and will employ more than 550 local crew members.
On a local level, Winston-Salem’s Downtown Arts District Association, or DADA, has been raising awareness of local artists and the arts community since 1995 through Gallery Hops and sponsorship of events throughout the year.
Charlotte Strom said Downtown Greensboro, Inc. has been a key element in her and Erik’s success.
“I’ve got to give them a lot of credit for educating the general public on what’s right around them — there is such creativity in your own backyard,” she said. “Independent artists cannot afford the thousands of dollars of advertising they give us.”
Charlotte and Erik have missed only one or two First Friday Gallery Hops in the past 10 years. They are committed to their craft of painting and they’ve made it clear they’ll do whatever it takes to survive as working artists. And so the creative class of our state survives, from the sound stages of Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington to the historic Glenwood neighborhood of Greensboro with hard work and a ton of optimism.
